Lesson 4: The Guardian Case Study_The Production Process

Revision starter:
What is technological convergence? - examples referring to newspaper industry
Who owns the Guardian Newspaper?
How is the ownership of the Guardian different from that of the Sun and how does this impact their coverage of news?
What is the circulation of the Sun and what is the circulation of the Guardian (2009)?
How does the Guardian survive in the current climate of recession and falling newspaper sales?

The production process
The Guardian’s headquarters is in the brand new Kings Place building in Kings Cross, London. Kings Place is also home to two orchestras including the London Sinfonietta, as well as housing a concert hall and two art galleries. But music aficionados will not be disturbed by the thunder of nearby printing presses, as The
Guardian Print Centre is seven miles away, in Stratford. For a short but fascinating look inside the print centre, check out YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=degZQJlk5m0

Incidentally, recent redundancies at the print centre made headlines as industrial action was narrowly averted, showing us that the downturn in the newspaper industry is having a serious effect upon The Guardian. Kings Place has been home to The Guardian since December 2008, and such a recent move means that The Guardian now has an
office space ideally suited to the new media environment. Editor Alan Rusbridger, writing at the time of the move, gave an insight into the changes it had brought:

‘Print and digital operations are largely integrated, where previously they were physically separate.”

He also pointed out that as well as regular desks with computers ‘there are seven state-ofthe- art recording studios and 24 editing desks.’ The Guardian is an online provider of news for a global audience and their new headquarters reflect a new convergence of technology as stories are written simultaneously for print and the website. Podcasts and video reports are also produced for broadcast, and live feed coverage of key events is now common. The way the agenda is set is changing too: morning news conferences can be attended via videoconferencing for Guardian employees not physically present at Kings Place.


Homework: Read pages 10 & 11 of the GMG Annual Report and summarise in bullet points.